1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to booting a computing device, such as a PC-type computer, with a windowing operating system obtained from an external media device via a connection.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computing devices, such as PC-type computers, contain a processor that executes a windowing operating system (OS), such as Microsoft Windows XP or some other windowing operating system. Such computing devices typically have an external interface capability such as a networking capability or support for other known types of connection such as a USB connection, a FireWire 1334 connection, and the like.
Conventional computing devices operate by booting the windowing OS from a memory media provided in the computing device. For example, a hard disk drive is typically used to store the windowing OS. The initialization boot process then accesses the windowing OS from the local memory media and loads the operating system components, such as the kernel and related files, into random access memory for execution by the processor. Windowing operating systems, such as Windows XP, usually have specific pre-defined requirements for loading the components of the windowing OS into RAM, and these requirements must be complied with to ensure proper boot and operation of the windowing OS.
As the footprint and weight of computing devices becomes smaller, these space and cost savings can be achieved by limiting the resources provided within the computing device. However, resource constraints are limited by the need to provide some form of persistent memory in the computing device with sufficient space to store the windowing operating system. Also, user intervention is usually required to update and manage a windowing operating system stored in a local memory media in a computing device.
Accordingly, it is desirable to develop boot method for a computing device that does not locally store an operating system in a local memory media, but instead loads and boots a “windowing” OS from a remote, external memory media via an external interface, such as a data network or a standardized (USB) serial connection.